Gang – Aryan Brotherhood

Born in the middle 60’s at San Quentin State Prison, the Aryan Brotherhood, also known as “The Brand“, was born as a way to protect white inmates from predatory black gangs which were growing in power and size.

The gang’s founding fathers, Barry “The Barron” Mills and Tyler Davis “The Hulk” Bingham, were Irish-American bikers and adopted the 3 leaf clover as its official symbol.  Common Aryan Brotherhood tattoos include the letters “AB”, “Brand”  or a shamrock. AB can also be written covertly as “1-2” for the first and second letters of the alphabet.

The Aryan Brotherhood operates under a paramilitary structure of Presidents, vice Presidents, Majors, Captains and Lieutenants. If, in addition to the AB tattoo, the subject also has a Falcon or a Hawk depicted, it may indicate a leadership position. A Falcon resembling the Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, means “We Ourselves“.

AB organizational structure has 2 main factions: The Federal faction controls the gang activities in federal prisons and The California State faction controls the state prisons. The prison gang uses a committee of “3 Man Council” to govern branches across the nation.

Considered as one of the most violent, The Brand, has been made accountable for over 100 murders throughout its existence and has traditionally targeted black individuals and members of black gangs. They also are rivals with the La Nuestra Familia (NF) because of their working relationship with the Mexican Mafia.

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Tattoo “14/88”

Numbers 14 and 88 have a special meaning in the Nazional Sozialismus ideology.

14 stands for the number of words which compose the aryan ideology related Fourteen Words statement written by David Lane:

“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White Children”

The 88 number stand for the 8th. letter of the alphabet .  HH symbolises  “Heil Hitler” which was a german salute meaning “Save Hitler”. When meeting someone, it was customary in Nazi Germany to give the Hitler salute and say the words “Heil Hitler!“.

This is an aryan race related tattoo mainly present in white supremacist groups.

Tattoo “Laugh now Cry later”

These theater masks are Tragedy and Comedy.

They are derived from the Greek, when masks were worn by actors to
help actors change characters and show emotions in theatres too large for the audience to see facial expressions.

Some ink it to symbolise their attitude to live their lives fully before they die. Even if that leads to a sad future.

Some variations may include “My happy life, My sad life”